2020 is almost over!

It's been a couple of months since my last post and I hope everyone has been staying safe and sane. What a crazy year it's been! Living in historical times is never easy.

I thank all of you essential workers for putting yourselves at risk to keep the rest of us alive. To those who have lost family and friends to the plague (sadly, I personally know a few who fall into this category), my heartfelt condolences. 2020 has traumatized our entire world on one level or another and keeping each other safe is so important right now. 

I just want to wish everyone a safe and sane holiday as we move toward the new year. And may 2021 bring successful vaccines and an end to the suffering. Stay safe!

Free Kindle book through Halloween!

 

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Adjusting to this crazy pandemic world

It's been a while since I posted here but as you already know, not much has changed in our pandemic world of 2020. We feel lucky to be living in a small town where we have access to the beach and hiking trails to help keep us sane and are able to distance ourselves. Like everyone these days, I miss traveling, shopping besides just picking up groceries, in-person workout classes, going to the movie theater, and other things I took for granted in the before times. We were supposed to do some indoor renos and traveling this past summer, which have been postponed indefinitely now. So we decided to update the outside, which is in desperate need of landscaping, to give ourselves a nature space for downtime without leaving our property. And I'll also have a wonderful place to write when I don't want to be in my office. So that's what we're doing over the next month.

We just try to get excited about the little things these days. Like chocolate, and the fact that it's now October, which is Halloween month. My favorite holiday! We're not sure whether trick-or-treating is cancelled in our town, yet, but we'll probably get that news soon. We plan to put a bowl of candy on the porch with a sign, if kids are allowed to go to houses this year. That way they don't need to interact with us to get a treat. I can't imagine being a kid in this pandemic craziness but they'll have a lot of stories to tell their future grandchildren, that's for sure.

The fires here on the west coast have been another trying thing for many. We're lucky we only got smoke and not fires where we live but others weren't so fortunate. 2020 is definitely testing all of us and I find getting lost in a good book even more important now, as are TV and streaming shows. I put a space together so we can do home workouts and play games. And we've done some small home updates ourselves, like painting hubby's office to brighten it up. I've been doing a lot of online writing conferences the past couple of months, which is nice because it feels like I'm at least connected to other writers, but they do get tiring after a while and I need to take breaks. Many are recorded so I can watch the panels any time, which helps.

I hope you and your family are staying safe during these trying times. Happy October!

If you're looking for books with ghosts, witches, mediums and other paranormals, please check out my Desert Magick series. Available for Kindle, KU readers, and in paperback.

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The new normal

As much as I hate that we have a plague going on, I have to say I'm glad for some of the options that have come out of this whole disaster. Streaming Comic-Con and the San Diego Writers Festival for example. I hope they continue this option after we get back to "normal" life in the future. After being isolated for so long, I feel rejuvenated just seeing and hearing other writers, even if it's on my TV. Especially in my genre! We creatives can be very introverted but we still need connections to our own kind once in a while.

Still here, still writing

The real world seems more fiction than my novels at the moment but I'm still here. Still writing. The main character in my current novel prefers I learn about her as I write her story. The nuggets she's revealed so far are taking me on a disturbing journey into the future. And, of course, I'm loving it!


Author website: danadaviswriting.com

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Dana-Davis/e/B0033HDLVC/

Are we living a sci-fi novel?

Living today is like being in some alternate universe in a sci-fi novel. Am I right?! I write all kinds of otherworldly books but I never thought I'd be living through a worldwide pandemic. I doubt many of us thought this would happen during our lifetime. Trying days, indeed.

Hubby and I are taking walks when weather permits and playing old Wii sport games and exercising at home when it doesn't. We binge shows and read books, but we did that before the stay at home orders. We're keeping our distance from others and only going to the store when we need supplies. To make things more stressful, my mother recently had surgery then complications from that surgery. Her last couple of days in the hospital, she wasn't allowed to have visitors due to the virus. She's home now and recovering. Thankfully!

I'm also working on my next book, which has taken longer than usual because of all the life interruptions over the past couple of years. When I'm not writing, I'm usually catching up on my family tree research. Funny, I've been watching the Outlander series and since my Frazier ancestors lived in the Carolinas during the revolutionary war, it's been extra fun seeing those scenes. I wonder if Gabaldon used my ancestors as inspiration for her characters or if that's a coincidence? Hmm...If I ever see her again, I'll have to ask her. We did book festivals together when I lived in Arizona but that was before she was a household name. She must be so excited seeing her books come to life on the screen. I know I'm enjoying the show.

Before I sign off, I would like to send out my sincere thanks to healthcare workers, first responders, grocery store workers, delivery services, and others for your hard work and commitment during this trying time. We appreciate all that you're doing to help keep the rest of us safe and stocked up on necessities. Hopefully, these trying times will be in our past sooner than later.

Stay smart and stay safe!

Missing our precious fur baby

I'm crying as I write this and haven't posted on this blog about it until now, but our precious fur baby passed away January 9th. We did everything we could to give her the best end of life care. We're heartbroken and still grieving for her. She was essentially our fur daughter and it's a shock to go from daily, scheduled care to sudden freedom. Because she had epilepsy and dementia and incontinence, she couldn't be left alone, so we did certain errands in shifts and took her with us wherever dogs were welcome.

She was a senior rescue and the vet guessed her age at the time we adopted her at 8-10 years, which meant she was about 14-16 years old when she died. The average age for a chug is 12 so we feel she beat the odds there. She seemed to be a happy dog, despite her fear-aggression to other dogs. Our trainer guessed that she was taken from her mother too soon and never socialized. For dogs, there is a window in which they need that socialization. She was our only fur baby and that was fine with her and with us, as she got and needed all the attention.

We're doing our best to live without her but it's very hard. We love you, little girl, and hope that you are running free and have many doggy friends now.